Okay, I posted a pic of the finished scene on the general forum a while back, but I thought I would give you guys a little bit on how I did it. Here is a test shot of the thing on the layout when it was almost finished. It is loosely based on a Fairbanks-Morse 6HP unit (Yes, the same people who made scales and Trainmaster locos)
How I did it: The engine base is a piece of 5/8" square basswood. The cylinder a piece of 5/8" dowel, notched 1/2way on one end to overlap a bit and make a good strong joint. The flywheels are plastic wagon wheels off a cheapy toy with every other spoke removed (the Ozark wheelbarrow wheel castings would work just as well). The valves are brads. The rocker arm, magneto, visible crank throws, and connecting rod were all made from coffee stirrers. The pushrod was brass wire, the sparkplug wire was an xmas ornament hanger (thinnest stuff we had on hand, lol). The cooling tank is cardstock and a bit of stainless screen from a dollar store strainer. The exhaust pipe on the other side is a plastic sprue with a wooden button plug for a muffler. The fuel mixer is a bit of bent brass wire, a panelling nail and some plastic tube. The saw itself is a brass wire mandrel, with pillow blocks made from Piko Gingerbread Series corner joiners, a Dremel reinforced cut-off disc for a blade, and a wood pulley. The belt is typing paper glued in place and painted. And the swinging saw table is plastic angle and .030 x 1/4 brass, prototypically restrained with a bit of chain. I do plan to replace the wagon wheels with better looking ones eventually (The prototype had steel wire spoke type wheels, but I’ll probably just get plastic wagon wheels) The finished scene, the shanty is scratchbuilt, the outhouse an Ozark kit, the Fordson tractor is a repainted $5 replica cast iron toy
